APEC PSU-APFF Survey on Trade & Supply Chain Finance

The ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA) is participating with the APEC Policy Support Unit and Asia Pacific Finance Forum (APFF), a sub-group of the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC) on the 2014 Survey of Trade & Supply Chain Finance relating Financial Institutions. This survey study seeks to capture market participants’ practices and experiences related to regulatory issues affecting Trade and Supply Chain Finance and SME access.

The study aims to help policy makers, regulators and the industry to better understand the impact of diverse regulations on the capacity of financial institutions to supply financing options and on the possibility of suppliers, especially SMEs, to access finance and participate in global supply chains. The result of the study will be presented to APEC Senior Finance Officials and other APEC Committees that work on regulatory issues, ABAC, and Finance Ministers.

ISO 20022 Standardisation of Payment & Settlement Systems

The ASEAN Bankers Association (ABA) through its Permanent Committee – Cooperation on Finance, Trade & Investment (COFIT) has been engaging with the Working Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (WC-PSS), a Task Force on Standardisation established by the Central Banks of ASEAN to propagate and drive capacity building on the use of ISO 20022 by all its members in the financial community in ASEAN. The aim is to have it as a common Standard in inter-operability of payments across ASEAN. This is also one of the key blueprint initiatives by ASEAN Finance Ministers in the formation of the ASEAN Economic Community (AEC).

A series of Workshop have been planned and rolled out together with strategic stakeholders in each of the ASEAN countries in the coming months.

Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA)

During the consultation stages, the five National Banking Associations of ABA – The Association of Banks in Singapore (ABS), The Association of Banks in Malaysia (ABM), The Thai Bankers’ Association (TBA), Bankers Association of the Philippines (BAP) and The Indonesian Banks Association (PERBANAS) made a joint submission to highlight the areas of concerns faced by our members to Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service (IRS) of the United States Government. The aim is to ensure that the FATCA provisions are proportionate and practical legislation that members can comply.